My research interests are varied but can generally be categorized by the larger field of computer-human interaction. More specifically I am interested in examining the ways in which we can harness today and tomorrow’s technology in learning and training paradigms. I grew up with computer games and given their current popularity, it seems useful to examine how they might be utilized to educate and teach. Games seem well suited to an active learning methodology because they can motivate students and in so doing, presumably encourage a greater level of engagement and hopefully retention. Research in this area has generated very few conclusive findings and I am interested in what interface elements encourage optimal user behavior with educational games. Towards this end, I have conducted research with middle school children that examined the impact of storyline in an educational web-based game on motivation and learning outcomes and how gender affected these outcomes.

 

In addition to games, I am also interested in the use of simulations in general as teaching tools. I am working on research that seeks to explore how the design of simulations can be used to encourage users to employ the scientific method when using them. Of particular interest to me is the tone of feedback and instruction that the user receives from the simulation while using it and how this may influence that user’s behavior.

 

Outside of the learning paradigm I am also engaged in research involving non-traditional human computer interfaces, i.e. interfaces that differ from the typical graphical user interface (GUI). Most recently I have been looking at the sonification of virtual keyboards. I think that with the increasing popularity of touchscreen interfaces that users will have to rely on different types of feedback from touchscreen based keyboards than they would with traditional hard-keyboards. While visual feedback will probably be most important for most users it is interesting to explore other ways of providing feedback especially in an environment where visual feedback is limited (e.g. a dimly lit or extremely bright room). Related to this I have also participated in research involving the iPhone’s virtual keyboard.